Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision Site visit made on 29 May 2024 by A Wright BSc (Hons) MRTPI an Inspector appointed by the Secretary of State Decision date: 6th June 2024 Appeal Ref: APP/L3625/W/23/3328879 Woodlands Chapel, St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey RH2 7JQ • The appeal is made under section 78 of the Town and Country Planning Act 1990 (as amended) against a refusal to grant planning permission. • The appeal is made by Mr Kris Jarrams of Sycthian Properties Ltd against the decision of Reigate and Banstead Borough Council. • The application Ref is 22/02093/F. • The development proposed is the demolition of the church hall and erection of 3 x 3 bedroom houses. Decision 1. The appeal is dismissed. Preliminary Matter 2. The appellant submitted an amended site layout plan (drawing number CRB/P22/06/Rev E), proposed landscaping arrangements (drawing numbers CWLD-BP-WC-LA-2336-01 and 02) and several computer-generated images with the appeal documents. The amended site layout plan shows changes to the location of the cycle stores for plots 2 and 3.

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision As the amended and additional documents do not materially change the proposal, I have had regard to them in my determination of the appeal as I am satisfied that the interests of the parties would not be prejudiced. Main Issue 3. The main issue in this appeal is the effect of the proposal on the character and appearance of the area. Reasons 4. The appeal site comprises a former chapel on the south side of St Marys Road with a backdrop of mature trees within a predominantly residential area. The building is set back from the road with a large hard surfaced parking area alongside it and some soft landscaping in front. The area mainly comprises terraced and semi-detached properties set back from the road. Although some dwellings have front parking areas, most have small front gardens with low boundary walls and fences giving a sense of spaciousness to the relatively tight knit urban environment. 5. The proposal would replace the existing chapel with a row of three terraced houses, with parking to the front and sides. It would retain existing trees and the eastern boundary hedge and incorporate new planting.

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision I acknowledge that the proposal would remove opportunities for on street parking which impinges https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision I acknowledge that the proposal would remove opportunities for on street parking which impinges https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/L3625/W/23/3328879 on the footway along this side of St Marys Road. However, due to the amount of space occupied by the parking spaces for plots 2 and 3 and their siting adjacent to the road, the scheme would be dominated by permeable hard surfaces and cars in views from the street. The site has an existing parking area, but as this lies behind a boundary wall with a single access point, it is less prominent in the street scene than the proposed parking arrangement. 6. The density would be comparable to existing residential development in the area. Nevertheless, the building, parking areas and footpaths would occupy a large proportion of the site, particularly when viewed from the road, with only very small areas of soft landscaping to the front. As such, the proposal would appear as a cramped form of development which would fail to reflect the prevailing character of houses with open areas in front. 7. The two parking spaces for plot 1 would be a tandem arrangement. As they would have a single access with space for planting on each side, these would not dominate the street scene. I note that the Council accepted this arrangement in its subsequent approval for two houses on the site1. 8.

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision The proposed dwellings would be set back further from the road than the approved scheme. However, the appeal proposal would have a larger building footprint, more parking spaces and less front soft landscaping compared to the approved scheme. Therefore, there are significant differences between the two proposed developments, and the approved scheme does not justify the harm which would arise from the appeal proposal. 9. The appellant compares the proposal with schemes at Beaufort Road2 where the Inspector for an appeal found a proposed development of three dwellings would not have a cramped appearance. Although that appeal was dismissed for other reasons, the Council subsequently approved an amended scheme. However, as the Beaufort Road site lies to the rear of existing buildings some distance from the appeal location, it is not comparable to the appeal site and proposed scheme. 10. Consequently, I conclude that the proposal would harm the character and appearance of the area.

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision This would be contrary to Policies DES1 and DES2 of the Reigate & Banstead Local Plan Development Management Plan 2019 which require development to respect the character of the surrounding area, including having due regard to the layout, amongst other things. Other Matters 11. The Council did not find harm or development plan conflict in relation to several other matters, including the principle of development, housing mix, affordable housing, living conditions, internal and external space standards, building design, flood risk, highways and parking, cycle storage, energy and water efficiency, infrastructure and effects on ecology, trees and heritage assets. However, even if I were to agree with the Council on these points, the absence of harm would be a neutral matter which would not carry weight in favour of the proposal. 1 Planning application ref 23/01979/F “the approved scheme” 2 Appeal ref APP/L3625/W/19/3223566, Planning application refs 18/01752/F and 19/02044 https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 2

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — Appeal Decision Appeal Decision APP/L3625/W/23/3328879 Conclusion 12. The proposal conflicts with the development plan and the material considerations do not indicate that the appeal should be decided other than in accordance with it.

Woodlands Chapel , St Marys Road, Reigate, Surrey, RH2 7JQ — Reigate and Banstead Borough Council — A Wright INSPECTOR https://www.gov.uk/planning-inspectorate 3